Boy struck by branch fights for life

A 4-year-old boy was still in critical condition Saturday evening at the University of Chicago Hospitals after a tree branch knocked him down Friday when high winds whipped through the Chicago area.

A hospital spokesman said the child, Jalen Raggs, had surgery Friday night to relieve swelling around his brain.

He was hurt in the 9300 block of South Elizabeth Street in Chicago. The branch also struck his cousin, who was taken to another hospital for minor cuts.

Matt Smith, a spokesman for the city Streets and Sanitation Department, said the tree had been trimmed and inspected in November.

"There were 45 m.p.h. winds," Smith said on Saturday. "It's unfortunate that someone was injured in this, but we certainly are responsive and proactive as possible with our tree trims.

"It's obvious we were in a period of extreme winds and that there would be damage to stationary items."

On Friday, 211 traffic signals were affected by the winds, and there were 107 tree emergencies, Smith said.

About 4,860 ComEd customers reported outages on the South and Northwest Sides of the city, a company spokesman said.

The blustery weather was caused by a large low-pressure system situated north of the Great Lakes, the National Weather Service said. The system was expected to bring rain and storms through the area Sunday.